The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Dessa Rodeffer, Quill Publisher/Owner
Michael Tarpey, Civil Engineer for the Corp of Engineers/Rock Island District in charge of the Gulfport and Carthage Lake levees, said Monday that they have design plans ready for reconstruction of the Federal levees owned by Drainage District 1 at Gulfport-Gladstone and District 2 at Carthage Lake.
"We are just waiting for the cooperative agreement" that lays out the responsibilities of the Drainage District and of the Corp, Tarpey said.
Once the agreement is signed and returned, Tarpey said he could proceed with the advertising for bids.
Tarpey estimates the advertising will be around five days. "We want to make sure we get enough bids to be competitive."
First they will close the breach and then will repair the levee damage from scour erosion and wind damage, and then make repairs to the pumping station. They should be competed with the work by November, Tarpey said. 100% of this work will be paid for by the Federal Government.
Tarpey said the river stage at Burlington was 8.2 feet at 2 p.m. Monday and called it a flat river. He said that the Federal Government's responsibility lies in replacing the levee back to its original 100 year status. The law does not allow for improvements to a 500 year flood levee unless given special authority by Congress.